MLB: Ruiz emotional in apology for drug suspension

CLEARWATER, Fla. — There’s no need for Marco Rubio to worry about his awkward reach for a bottle of water during his Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night. Someone in the Florida senator’s home state had a way, way worse time in front of cameras Wednesday afternoon.

Carlos Ruiz, the Phillies’ All-Star catcher, needed tissues and towels as he struggled to give a nervous, glassy-eyed mea culpa in his second language for twice testing positive for the psychostimulant Adderall and earning a 25-game suspension from MLB during the offseason.

“First I want to apologize to my organization, the fans, my teammates, my whole family,” Ruiz said as he sat on a picnic bench outside of Bright House Field, roasting in the Florida sun. “I feel so bad for this. I’m trying to put everything behind me and do my best this year and bring a championship back to Philadelphia.”

Asked if he was prescribed the medication, made popular as a treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Ruiz said that was between him and his physician. Baseball players can and do use Adderall, which contains amphetamine, provided they get a medical waiver from MLB to do so.

Of course, the failsafe from having a player claim ignorance about the procedure to legally take a prescription of that sort is that the league gives a warning upon the first failed test. So Ruiz had been made aware of his situation, and yet he will spend April banished from playing.

“I got caught two times, and I have to pay for that,” said Ruiz, who refused to say whether he has since tried to gain the medical OK to use Adderall. “I want to put that behind and now focus on this year and give it 100 percent for the city and organization.

“Major League Baseball has rules, and when you make a mistake, you’re going to pay. So I’ll pay my 25 games, and I apologize to my teammates, my organization, my family and fans, and I’m ready to put everything behind and get ready for the regular season.”

What the advantages of using Adderall would be for a player aren’t clear, although users claim improvement in focus, alertness and even a sharpening of vision (even though a listed side effect of the drug is blurred vision).

What can’t be denied is that in the same season he tested positive for the drug, Ruiz posted career-highs in average (.325), home runs (16), RBIs (68) and slugging percentage (.540). So, the question had to be asked: Does Ruiz believe those numbers can be replicated without cheating?

“I am working really hard. I trust myself to put up some good numbers,” he said. “But at the same time, baseball is baseball. You have to work hard every day, and when you work hard, you get a lot of good things.

“It’s something I have to put aside because I know I’m always working hard. I want to do my best.”

Ruiz certainly has counted down the days in his suspension. He was aware that he would be eligible to return April 28 in New York for the final game of a three-game series with the Mets.

“Right now it feels bad, because I’ll miss four or five weeks,” Ruiz said. “I have to come back and be ready to play.

“I can’t wait to go to New York and be in the lineup. I know it’s going to be very special for me and my family.

“For me, it’s hard, man. I lose something for 25 games and I want to be on the field. I want to play. At the same time I feel like I have the support of my good friends. It’ll be great to come back and do my best.

“I made a mistake, and I paid for that. I put that behind and am ready for this season.”

* * *Juan Cruz, we hardly knew you. In fact, we did not know you even a little bit.

General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. told reporters Wednesday morning that the veteran right-hander, who had been expected in camp to compete for a bullpen role, had asked to be released from his commitment with the Phillies. The club obliged.

“He signed an agreement with us prior to our signing of Chad Durbin (Jan. 29),” Amaro said. “And I think after discussing it with his agent, we all got together and talked about it and decided to part ways.

“It was a situation where we decided we should do what’s right for the player.”

Durbin, who signed a big-league contract worth $1.1 million, gave the Phillies one fewer opening for a right-hander in their bullpen. Cruz, 34, was 1-1 with a 2.78 ERA with three saves 43 games with the Pirates.